


Tea Party

by Irhaboggles



Category: Maleficent (Disney Movies)
Genre: Child, Funny, Humor, Maleficent 1, One Shot, Parent Maleficent (Disney), Short, Tea Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-24 08:42:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,196
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21096632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irhaboggles/pseuds/Irhaboggles
Summary: Little Aurora was having a tea party. Her raven friend was invited, and so was the shadow that always followed her around. She already knew the shadow wouldn't show up directly, but she still set a place at the table. The shadow, meanwhile, waited and watched from afar. She claimed to be against such childish things, but she just could not take her eyes off the sweet little girl.





	1. Tea Party

"Oooh! Pretty birdie!" little Aurora laughed as that familiar old black bird landed on the table resting right outside her cottage. "You're just in time for our tea party!" she held out a little old teapot. It was only filled with water from the sink, but the child was pretending that it was the fanciest, finest tea in all the world. She delicately poured the raven a cup.

"Drink up!" she said merrily. The raven cawed affectionately at her before obediently dipping his head into the saucer.

"Mmmm, and look! I have cookies!" the girl sing-songed, pulling out a small handful of crunchy treats she'd pilfered from her aunties' kitchen. The three had nearly burnt down their cottage trying to bake the cookies and during the chaos of trying to keep anything from catching on fire, Aurora had managed to snag a few of the non-burnt ones and save them for later. Now, she brought them out and set them down between herself and the raven. Mmmm! Her aunties really could be great cooks! If they managed to get the recipe right first, that is… The raven cawed again as he pecked at his cookie. It was a bit dry and crumbly for his taste, but it really wasn't that bad!

Aurora had one other place at the table set, for the shadow that seemed to follow her around as constantly as the raven, but since the shadow preferred to keep its distance, Aurora already knew it wouldn't attend the tea party directly. She wished that it _would_ come out of hiding and speak with her, but she didn't want to make it feel uncomfortable, so while she left a place at the table for it, she had no plans on trying to actively invite it in. If the shadow ever did want to join a tea party, the option was always there, but Aurora wasn't going to push it. But the young girl did take a moment to look around and peer through the trees surrounding her cabin. She couldn't help but wonder if that shadow wasn't watching her right at that very moment… It was.

Standing a few feet away, just like always, was Maleficent. She watched the tea party with keen eyes, though she never ever dared to come out and confront Aurora directly. Insetad, she watched from afar, amused by the simplicity of the party.

"How quaint," she whispered to herself, eyes narrowing as she watched the girl and her raven servant, whose name was Diaval, break bread together. She rolled her eyes as she watched Aurora pour herself and Diaval more "tea".

"Pathetic. Foolish. Stupid," Maleficent had seen better from the Moorland trolls! She shook her horned head again with disgust and disdain. If only she had realized that the third open seat at the table was not for another imaginary friend of Aurora's, but for Maleficent herself!

But even though Maleficent watched the scene with contempt, she continued to watch it nonetheless. She silently berated her raven servant for stooping to such a low level as to be a child's plaything, but she seemed completely unaware to the fact that she was pretty much doing the same thing. Perhaps she wasn't present at the party, but she was watching it all the same. But this was because, although she'd never admit it, Maleficent liked keeping an eye on Aurora. She liked watching over the girl. Even though she found the child's games to be incredibly pathetic, awkward and embarrassing, there was something… fun about watching Aurora play.

Again, Maleficent would never admit to any of this, but actions spoke louder than words. She didn't need to confirm or deny her secret affections for the little princess in order for it to be obvious. What's more, she was almost a little bit jealous of Diaval. While she had to watch the party from a distance, he got to be right up front and center, interacting with Aurora and making her laugh. Lucky him.

"Oh, Mr. Birdie! Your feathers are so beautiful!" Maleficent heard Aurora giggle, voice high-pitched and sweet. She heard Diaval caw proudly before hopping over to her to let her pet him. This was where Maleficent flinched involuntarily. She always got nervous when it came to physical contact, especially if a human was part of the equation. Even though she already knew Aurora would never intentionally hurt Diaval, for she was too sweet to be that cruel, it still made Maleficent uneasy to see Aurora touching her bird. But just as Maleficent predicted, Aurora was gentle with Diaval. She patted him tenderly and stroked his feathers rhythmically.

"You're so handsome, my fine, feathered friend!" the little princess said and Diaval seemed to melt under her touch.

"_Ooooh! This is the life!" _he murmured to himself. From above, Maleficent rolled her eyes. Even from where she stood, she could feel the satisfaction and pleasure radiating off of Diaval's avian form. Spoiled little beast!

But after the hour was up, Aurora, Maleficent and Diaval all heard Aurora's three aunties come calling.

"Aurora! Darling! Time to come back inside now! We have some chores to do!"

"Coming, aunties!" Aurora sighed unhappily as she withdrew her hand from Diaval's wings. He looked just as disappointed.

"Gah! Darling! You shouldn't be playing with _that thing_!" Knotgrass came out of the hut first and shrieked when she saw the large, ugly black bird sitting on the table. He squawked indignantly at her. He was _not _ugly! He was _gorgeous_! _Fabulous_, even!

"Why ever not?" Aurora asked as Knotgrass pointed a shaking finger at Diaval. "He was just having a tea party with me!"

"Well. He's a bird! He's dirty! He poops on things!" Knotgrass insisted, face as red as her dress as she huffed at Aurora and her raven companion.

"He hasn't done anything wrong," Aurora came to the bird's defense and Diaval nodded stubbornly. That's right! Don't blame the bird!

But while Knotgrass continued to huff and puff, Thistlewit sighed and rolled her eyes, taking a far gentler approach.

"Just let's go back inside, Aurora, dear. You've had your fun for today and you can have another tea party tomorrow but, for now, we have chores to do!" then she took Aurora's hand gently in her own. She had always been the softest and sweetest of the three.

"But Thistlewit," Aurora pleaded, but Thistlewit only shook her head gently. This left Flittle to try to shoo Diaval away.

"Go on, then. Git! Go home! Go home now!" she whispered as she gently shook her blue apron at Diaval. He crowed in amusement at her. It was obvious she was trying not to anger him just in case he decided to peck at her, but honestly, he was too amused by her foolish attempts at dismissing him to feel anything other than mirth.

"Didn't you hear me? Go! Go on now! Fly! Fly away! Fly home!" Flittle began to plead, sounding increasingly frustrated when Diaval only continued to sit there and stare at her smugly. Aurora had to mask a smile when she felt Thistlewhit let go of her arm to join her sister in trying to get the raven to leave the property. It was funny, watching two old women flicking their aprons at a bird who almost seemed to be smirking.

"You little devil," Aurora whispered in delight and Diaval actually winked at her, dark eyes sparkling knowingly. This earned another laugh from the young girl. At least until Knotgrass grew impatient enough to try to speed things along…

"Oh for goodness' sake! Let's hurry this up!" she cried, taking a determined step over to Diaval.

"Auntie! Wait!" Aurora lurched forward, afraid that Knotgrass might hurt Diaval, but before Aurora could reach Knotgrass, something else did…

The second Knotgrass reached out to grab Diaval, the teapot from Aurora's party suddenly soared over to Knotgrass before dumping the rest of its contents out over her head. The teapot had already been half empty because of how much "tea" Aurora and Diaval had drank, but there was still enough to douse Knotgrass in a fair amount of water.

"Who did that?!" she demanded. The teapot had moved so quickly that none of them had had any time to see the guilty one before it had dumped itself out all over Knotgrass' frayed, brown hair. Thistlewit and Flittle began to laugh helplessly, pointing and sniggering obnoxiously.

"This is _not _funny, girls!" Knotgrass snapped at them, face now redder than her dress, but her anger did nothing. Diaval began to crow loudly and even Aurora could not hide a few giggles. The entire group continued to laugh at Knotgrass' misfortune while she continued to scowl at them all. But even the shadow, who was not directly present, was laughing, although she hid it behind a stony expression.

"Imbecile," she smirked at the angry pixie.

"Oh, come on you lot! Let's just go back inside!" the angry pixie in question harrumphed before grabbing her sisters and foster child and dragging them all back into the cottage frustratedly. Just before they crossed the threshold, however, Aurora bade one last farewell to her friend.

"Goodbye, pretty birdie! I hope to see you again at the next tea party tomorrow!" she whispered and he waved a wing right back at her before finally taking flight and leaving the property.

"Thank goodness!" Knotgrass scowled as the black bird flew away.

"Odd little creature, isn't he?" Thistlewit mused, having been more impressed than anything with his humanistic qualities. For a bird, he had been incredibly intelligent and perceptive. She put a thoughtful finger on her chin.

"Well, at least he's finally gone now," Flittle shrugged, more apathetic to the issue than either of her sisters were.

"Yes, you're right," Knotgrass mumbled. "And now that it's gone, we can get back to work!" she cried, then she flicked her hands and gestured for her three family members to get back inside the house. Knotgrass was the last one in and the second her feet had crossed the door's threshold, the door swung shut and struck her soundly on the rear end.

Even from several leagues away, Maleficent could hear the pixie's pained yelp and she laughed sadistically. Tormenting them was so fun! Diaval made his return not five seconds later.

"Well. I hope you had fun at that banal little _tea party_," Maleficent sneered at the raven as he flew back over to her.

"Yes I did!" he said unapologetically as Maleficent turned him back into a human. This earned him an eyeroll from his mistress.

"Honestly, you aren't supposed to be _enjoying _playing those stupid little games with her!" she sighed.

"But I do," he replied smugly. "And I think you do too!" he added with a knowing wink. Maleficent gave him a scandalized expression, but he only shrugged, totally unafraid. Even if Maleficent didn't want to admit it to anyone, even herself, both she and he knew that she enjoyed watching Aurora play just as much as Diaval did. She didn't just do it to kill time or to have an excuse to torment Aurora's three idiotic caretakers, she did it because she genuinely enjoyed watching Aurora grow. Sure, she'd never _say_ that, but they both knew it was true.

"Anyways, Aurora did invite me back for a tea party tomorrow, so I think I'm going to go," Diaval said airily and Maleficent growled at him, not because she was forbidding him from attending, but because she knew that the only reason he had told her about the next tea party was because he was trying to get her to attend. He knew that all he needed to do was mention Aurora's plans and Maleficent would make time to go. She was growling at him because he was right, and he knew it.

"I mean, of course, you don't _have _to come along," he continued, giving her a mock innocent smile.

"Of course I do. What if one of those three stooges tries to hurt you again?" Maleficent insisted.

"You think I couldn't have just flown like six inches into the air and gotten away?" Diaval snorted. If Maleficent was going to come up with an alibi about why she wanted to attend Aurora's next tea party, the least she could do was come up with an excuse that was _good_.

"Not after she's been fattening you up with all of those sweets!" Maleficent shot back, then the two spent the entire rest of their trip back home bickering and even though Maleficent could've easily turned Diaval back into a raven to shut him up, she didn't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Just some fluff, and a Maleficent 1 fic so that there won't be any spoilers. And also, it's high time I wrote a Diaval fic, so here's his biggest debut in my works.


	2. Table for Three

The very next day, just as planned, Aurora and Diaval were back for another tea party.

"I got some real tea this time!" the girl whispered excitedly as she poured out their drinks. Diaval tilted his beak towards his cup and inhaled. Mmm! That _did_ smell pretty good! Of course, nothing beat Moorland tea because that came straight from the freshest herbs and plants that nature could offer, but whatever Aurora had managed to scavenge smelled pretty promising too.

For a time, the two drank in silence, just enjoying each other's company. Like before, Aurora had set up a third, extra seat at their little table making it a table for three, but there was no third guest in sight. Her eyes flitted back and forth between the trees that surrounded her cottage. Today, she could find no sign of the shadow anywhere. Her shoulders slumped, but she said nothing. Instead, she continued to drink in peace.

After a while, however, Diaval raised his beak from his cup and hopped over to the third, empty seat. Aurora didn't used to put out that third chair, but it was becoming a recurring thing and he wanted to know who else Aurora was trying to invite to the tea party. He was willing to bet that it was an imaginary friend she might've conjured up, but the fact that she never once talked to or about the imaginary friend did puzzle Diaval. He may not have known much about human life, but he was pretty sure that the entire point of having an imaginary friend was to interact with it. He hopped over to the third seat, hoping Aurora would understand his silent question. She did.

"Oh! That's for the shadow!" she said merrily. Diaval cocked his head. "The shadow," Aurora repeated. "I notice it following me around. Usually, it comes with you, but sometimes, it comes alone. I assume you two are friends and I've always wanted for that shadow to come join our tea party, but it never seems to want to…" Aurora trailed off to do another perimeter check. Still no telltale signs of the shadow. Diaval, meanwhile, fluffed up in alarm. At first, he had not understood what Aurora meant by "shadow" and he had grown worried that perhaps there was a stalker in their midst. After Aurora described how the shadow seemed to be a companion of Diaval, however, he made the connection at once.

"_Maleficent_!" he cried to himself. "_She means Maleficent_!" and then it took all of his self-control not to laugh. Even if she refused to acknowledge any sort of positive regard for Aurora, it seemed that Aurora was more than happy to admit fondness for her.

"I did think about asking you to bring the shadow along, but I didn't know if that would be rude or not," Aurora continued. Diaval cawed to get her attention. He gestured to himself with his wing, then pointed to the woodlands beyond and then cocked his head back towards the third seat. It was an obvious offer and Aurora's eyes lit up at once.

"Oh! Would you?" she sounded hopeful. "That would be delightful! I'll pour the tea while you go get the shadow!" she clapped once before hastily and excitedly picking up her tea pot and pouring contents out into a third cup for the first time ever. Diaval watched her enthusiasm with a fond little caw before taking flight from the table and heading back over to where he knew Maleficent was watching.

"Did her aunts scare you off already?" the Dark Fairy gave Diaval a smirk as she turned him back into a human.

"No, actually, Aurora's come calling," Diaval replied with a genuinely happy smile.

"What?" Maleficent narrowed her eyes, smirk fading instantly.

"You've got an invitation," Diaval replied, and his eyes twinkled with happiness.

"Ok. No. No. No. No. And no," Maleficent said the moment she managed to wrap her head around Diaval's message. "I absolutely will _not _be dining with that wretched little beastie!" the Dark Fairy shook her horns in disgust at the mere suggestion.

"Well you're the one who complained about the last time you weren't invited to a party!" Diaval shot back. "Now you finally got an invitation!"

"That was different! And you know it!" Maleficent snarled.

"Well try to see this as… a return of sorts. Her father failed to invite you to his party, now she's inviting you to hers!" Diaval cried.

"That's not the same!" Maleficent snarled again.

"Gah! Nothing ever pleases you, does it?" the raven-man demanded. "First you get mad when you _aren't_ invited, then you get mad when you _are_!"

For a moment, the two continued to bicker, but as Maleficent continued to shoot down Diaval's request, he grew more and more serious.

"Please, Mistress!" he pleaded, sincere. For once, he wasn't trying to tease Maleficent into anything. For Aurora's sake, he really wanted Maleficent to stop being such a stubborn jerk and make the girl's day. "She really wants to see you. She's already set up a table for three!"

"That's out of the question," Maleficent said, with a very final tone.

"You could at least do _something _prove that you've come," Diaval replied.

"And why should I do that?" Maleficent asked rudely.

"Because she's asking for you!" Diaval replied stubbornly, passionately, advocating for Aurora.

"And why should I care?" Maleficent snorted, finding their entire argument to be very tedious, petty and silly.

"Because she's a sweet girl!" Diaval continued, not quite as ready to give up.

"And that's supposed to affect me how?" Maleficent pretended to yawn.

"Because I know you already care for her, Mistress," Diaval's face became entirely serious and when Maleficent snarled at him, eyes literally glowing with anger, he only looked right back into her eyes with an unshakeable calm. "All humor aside, you and I both know full well you're starting to care for the girl. And she already cares for you, so the least you can do is go on and play with her! Just this once!" Diaval pleaded.

"She cares for me?" Maleficent's face contorted into a wary snarl. Diaval only nodded calmly, that look of conviction still upon his face. He explained to her that Aurora was aware of her existence. Even if Aurora didn't know everything, she did know that a certain shadow was never too far away and was always there to help her out of a tough spot. Aurora didn't need to know more than that to be grateful, and now she wanted to meet her silent savior and invisible friend.

Diaval's message to Maleficent stirred up quite a few conflicting emotions. The first was disbelieving amusement that Aurora could've somehow noticed her shadow, noticed it frequently, and mistaken it for some sort of guardian angel. If only the little girl knew the truth… But behind the amusement at the irony and humor of the situation, there was something much darker and more serious at stake. Maleficent was vary wary of humans. Even the seemingly good ones could easily go bad. In fact, Aurora was the child of the prime example of this in Maleficent's book! So not only was she wary of Aurora just because she was human, but because Aurora was the direct descendent of one of the worst humans that Maleficent knew. Of course, Maleficent knew that blood did not determine fate, but she certainly was going to exercise extra cautious around the child of the most evil human she knew.

But underneath even that, Maleficent felt a little bit touched. There was nothing sweeter than the honest innocence of a child. Even if Aurora was incredibly misguided in her beliefs, they were sweet nonetheless and her intentions were pure and touching. She wanted to meet her hero and make a new friend. How could Maleficent not find something charming in that? But the problem was, who knew how Aurora might react once she actually got to her hero face to face. Maleficent wasn't exactly a pretty sight…

"So no. I'm not going. And you can tell her I said that," Maleficent flicked her head back down to where Aurora was waiting below.

"Mistress," Diaval tried again. He honestly wasn't trying to anger her or goad her into doing something she didn't want to do, but he felt like this time, they both needed to put their own desires aside for Aurora's sake. She was just so sweet, kind, gentle, thoughtful and innocent. This wasn't about what he or Maleficent wanted, for themselves or each other. This was about what Aurora wanted. Today, Diaval was fighting for that. For Aurora. And he wasn't going to let Maleficent get out of it this time. This wasn't just about her anymore. It was about Aurora too…

So for a time, Maleficent and Diaval continued to argue. At least until Aurora cried out.

"Pretty birdie, where did you go?" she cupped her hands to her mouth and cried out worriedly.

"Oh, great, now look what you've done!" Diaval cried in frustration and sympathy. "You've made her worry! I've taken too long with you!"

"Good," Maleficent replied coldly. Diaval shot her a genuinely disgusted and angry look. It was actually so full of venom and disappointment that it honestly caught Maleficent off guard. For once, Diaval wasn't joking around.

"You know, Mistress, I know you've been hurt before, but so have I, but you don't see me ever acting this bitter. And I don't take my bitterness out on other people either," he said, truly contemptuous of his mistress. But before either of them could say another word, Diaval reached out and grabbed the tip of Maleficent's scepter, pointing it towards himself and turning himself back into a raven before flying back down to Aurora. Maleficent watched him go, too stunned by his words and actions to rebuke him for either.

"Ah! There you are!" Aurora sounded relieved when she caught sight of Diaval flying back over to her. Diaval felt his heart ache at how genuinely relieved she sounded that he had come back for her after all. "Where is your friend?" she asked him hopefully, but after a quick look-around, Aurora came to realize that the shadow still had not come. "Ah. Still too shy?" her question was sincere, but the ignorance in it almost made Diaval laugh. He managed to catch himself, though, and nodded at her, pantomiming that the shadow still didn't feel comfortable coming out into the open for something like a tea party, even if it was only going to be a table for three.

"Oh well. That's ok," Aurora said, being quite sincere in her remark. Although it was obvious that she was disappointed (which Diaval hated to see), she genuinely would've preferred that the shadow stay away and stay comfortable then come out and feel unsafe. "Maybe some other time. Just let it get to know that I won't hurt it. I am safe. The shadow can trust me," she suggested, and once again, Diaval had to stifle a laugh. Poor, sweet, innocent Aurora. She honestly thought Maleficent was refusing to come out and play just because she was scared and didn't trust Aurora. Nothing could be further from the truth. Maleficent was just a grumpy old curmudgeon. And no, Diaval was _not _going to take that back! He could tolerate Maleficent's temper and mood most of the time, but there was no excuse to be mean to a sweet little girl who had never done a thing wrong in her life! That was where Diaval was going to put his talon down.

"_Let the grumpy old witch stew. Aurora and I will have fun all on our own!_" he thought stubbornly to himself. Even if Maleficent was too mean to be nice to a poor little child, Diaval certainly wasn't! So on the tea party went, Diaval making a big deal out of drinking the tea that was supposed to have gone to Maleficent. The Dark Fairy really didn't know what she was missing!

But barely 15 minutes later, while Diaval and Aurora were locked in a game of tag, they both noticed the third chair at the table scooting away from the table itself. An oily black figure took a seat in it. Both Diaval and Aurora gasped, halting right in the middle of their game to watch. It was Maleficent. Or rather, her shadow. Quite literally, it was her shadow. Having taken inspiration from Diaval's stories about what Aurora had said, the Dark Fairy used her magic to transfer her mind into her own shadow and move it away. While her real and corporeal body still remained hidden in the trees several distances away, her mind was now present at the tea table, carried in the vessel that was her shadow, literal and living.

While Diaval could only stare open-beaked at his Mistress' shadow, Aurora smiled and took a cautious step forward. One could see it on her chubby little face that she was bursting at the seams, but she managed to control herself and remain polite and gentle.

"Hello. My name is Aurora," she greeted softly as she continued to walk slowly to her third and final guest. At long last! What a moment this was! The table for three was finally complete! But since Aurora didn't want to scare her guest, she forced herself to remain calm, quiet and slow…

The shadow only nodded back. Since it was not a corporeal being, although Maleficent could use it to experience a world outside of and away from her body, she could not really interact. She couldn't say or touch anything. Not as a shadow.

"Oh, you can't talk, can you?" Aurora asked, catching onto why Maleficent couldn't speak at once. The shadow shook its head. "Well that's ok!" Aurora cried merrily. "We can still be friends!" and despite herself, the barest of smiles flickered across Maleficent's face (not that anyone could see it). This kid was something else. Maleficent still found her vaguely annoying and uncomfortable, but she couldn't deny that the girl was very well-meant. It was kind of refreshing, when it wasn't embarrassing.

"Oh wait! Does this mean you can't drink tea either?" Aurora asked a second later, a look of dismay flickering across her face. For a little kid, she was very sharp and very fast. But she looked so embarrassed and upset with herself that Maleficent found herself actually feeling kind of bad for the child. She nodded, but shrugged, a clear sign that while Aurora was correct in her assessment, Maleficent didn't mind at all.

"Are you sure?" the child wrung her hands together worriedly. "I am sorry…" Maleficent only shrugged again and nodded, trying to get the kid to see that it was fine. She didn't need to fret over something so small. She really was something else…

Five minutes later, the tea party had recommenced. Even though one of their ranks could not drink tea, she still did her best to engage in the activity. She spoke through gestures and symbols written in magic in order to talk to Aurora and the girl didn't seem to mind at all. Maleficent's muteness hardly even registered with Aurora because the two had found a way around the communication barrier and she watched Maleficent write out her story with rapt attention. Of course, the story was all a lie, Maleficent claimed to be a rare shadow-creature that met and befriended Diaval while they were both out exploring late one night, but it was the only story Maleficent felt comfortable telling the young Aurora and, for once, Diaval agreed. The girl didn't need to know the full or true story. At least not yet.

So for a time, while Maleficent wrote out symbols and words on the table cloth in shadows, Aurora and Diaval read them all with rapt attention, occasionally pausing for a sip of tea. Despite herself, Maleficent actually began to have a decent time. Tea parties, especially with children, still weren't quite her thing, but this table for three hadn't been terrible! In fact, when the sound of Aurora's three aunts calling forced the party to come to an end for the day, Maleficent halfway debated on coming back for another party in the future. Maybe she wouldn't attend every single one, but coming back was not totally out of the question…

"Goodbye, new friend!" Aurora waved farewell to the shadow as she made her way back towards her house. "It was great meeting you!" and Maleficent waved back. Aurora beamed like the sun and that was the last either Maleficent or Diaval saw of her before she turned around to go inside. Maleficent and Diaval continued to watch the door for a moment more before they both made their exit.

"Ha ha, what did I tell you?!" Diaval asked excitedly as Maleficent returned him to his human body and herself to her physical one.

"Oh please, I was only being polite," Maleficent scoffed. "Don't get any ideas.

"But that's just it! You were being polite!" Diaval cried, sounding delighted and proud. "I told you that you'd like her!"

"Don't get any ideas!" Maleficent repeated with a scowl, but it was too late. Diaval looked far too happy.

"I told you you'd have fun and you did!" he cried. "I hope this isn't the last time you come to a tea party either!"

Maleficent's scowl deepened, but because Diaval was in such a good mood, he ignored her completely as they both went on home. He was on an afterglow both from the party and from proving Maleficent wrong about her worries. While he strutted ahead, Maleficent rolled her eyes and trudged on after him. She had to admit, though, that the tea party really hadn't been too terrible. Nor had its hostess. And in fact, once Diaval was far enough ahead, Maleficent paused to turn around and look at Aurora's cabin one last time.

"Goodbye, Beastie. Maybe we will meet again someday," she whispered, the barest of smiles flickering back onto her face again, but like before, no one was around to see it…

But then her tender smile became dry. "And maybe next time, I shall bring some better tea, real Moorland tea," she smirked, so despite all of her best efforts, Maleficent was already making plans for the next time she and Aurora would meet. Diaval would never let her live it down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Assassin Akame, here's your sequel where Maleficent finds out about the third chair and joins in on the next tea party (albeit very reluctantly). Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
